Friday, October 9, 2009

We are all about packing healthy, waste-free lunches here in the Greenhab household. Well, I am at least. My 4 year old told me the other day "I think I'll leave my lunchbox here today mom. If a kid forgets lunch they give you a tray full of food and chocolate milk." He's too smart for his own good some times.I do try to teach the kids about the importance of not only eating well, but packing lunches that don't require any packages or wrappers to be thrown away. For sandwiches, we have a Wrap-n-Mat that's really functional, but it's lined with plastic, which I'm not too keen on. Then we also have this green wrap, which is all plastic and a bit wonky anyway.

Since I'm packing ten lunches each week, I need a pinch hitter in case one of these is dirty, or left at school by accident. I incorporated ideas from several wrappers I've seen to come up with this extremely easy to make design.

I used two handkerchiefs for this, because my daughter liked the colors and they'd been sitting in my fabric stash forever.

You'll want to start with two circles of your fabric. You can make them the same, as I did, or use coordinating fabrics. I used a pot lid to measure out my 14 inch circles. Pin the circles, right sides together. Stitch around, leaving a 1/2 inch seam allowance and a hole for turning. Notch all around the circle so that it lays flat when you turn it right side out. Turn. Press flat. Top stitch all around.

Fold the sides in and press with an iron so that the wrap will naturally fold along those creases.

Add your velcro to the top and bottom. I used the kind that just sticks on, because that's what I had on hand. You can use any kind you'd like. Fill with a yummy sandwich and enjoy! This will also double as a place mat for your child as s/he eats lunch.

I love this tutorial...perfect. I just got some PUL fabric to make sandwich wraps, (it has a plastic lining on one side...) but I like the idea of perhaps lining the inside with a fabric so the plastic doesn't come in contact with my food. And I love that this is a clean placemat for dining. Briliant! Thanks. Abbie

I don't think the sandwich NOT drying out in a ziploc is because it's plastic, I think it's because it's an airtight seal - no air to get in and dry out the bread. I've done a lot of reading on sandwich wraps and haven't heard anyone say that their sandwich is dried out, so I think the fabric folds keep enough air out to prevent the drying.

I do like Abbie's idea of using a PUL layer BETWEEN two cotton fabrics! That way it'd be waterproof, but no plastic touching the food.

If the bread is bit dry, which is no big deal if it isn't sitting around too long, we need to teach our kids to eat it anyway, as long as it is not spoiled. We don't waste bread in our home - we bake it from whole wheat organic flour and relish every bit.

I love your sandwhich wrap - it's pretty and wise. We can only do so much; God Blesses our efforts, not our successes.